Portsmouth business owners hoping for Obama bump today

Friday

Sep 7, 2012 at 3:15 AMSep 7, 2012 at 9:04 AM

By JIM HADDADINjhaddadin@fosters.com

PORTSMOUTH — With thousands of people congregating in Portsmouth today for an appearance by President Barack Obama, local business owners are hoping the event will also deliver customers to the shops and eateries downtown.

The president will hold a campaign event today at Strawbery Banke Museum, where he is scheduled to appear with Vice President Joe Biden, first lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden.

Obama's trip to New Hampshire comes on the heels of his speech Thursday at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., where Obama and Biden formally accepted the party's nomination for re-election.

Obama will be the first sitting president since George Washington to visit Strawbery Banke, according to a museum spokeswoman. An advance team from the president's campaign has estimated attendance at Friday's event will reach between 3,000 and 5,000.

Karen Vawter, manager of the downtown shoe store Footnotes, said she's hoping the spectators congregating at Obama's event Friday spend time exploring the city as well.

"I'm just curious, because obviously it's going to make it harder to get around, harder to drive in and around here, but it's going to bring people in, so I hope all that's going to benefit us rather than hurt us," she said.

The campaign originally floated the idea of staging an event in the middle of Market Square, but city officials raised concerns about the impact that would have on local businesses. Prescott Park was another location under consideration before Strawbery Banke was chosen to host the event.

To accommodate the president's appearance, Portsmouth police shut down vehicle traffic on Washington, Marcy, Hancock, Gates and Mechanic streets and portions of Court and Atkinson streets between Thursday and this morning. Peirce Island will also remain closed until after the president's departure.

At the family-owned toy store G. Willikers! on Market Street, co-owner Jody Breneman said she supports the president, and doesn't mind the disruption his visit will cause. After being in business for 34 years, Breneman said she and her family members have learned festivals and large events increase the city's prestige.

"The more that happens in the city, the more vibrant we are and the more diverse we are," said Breneman, who operates the store with her brother and mother.

Like some other Portsmouth business owners, Breneman was looking to highlight the president's visit this week in her store. She moved a pair of White House-inspired children's books to a prominent location near the cash register.

Joe Kelley, one of the co-owners of The Thirsty Moose Taproom, a new downtown eatery on Congress Street, said he's considering creating an Obama-themed beer sampler and burger combination to mark the president's arrival in the Port City.

The restaurant opens for business at 11:30 a.m. Friday. Outside of the fact that beer deliveries could be difficult to orchestrate on Friday, Kelley said he expects few disruptions.

Kelley also owns a custom T-shirt printing store located nearby on Market Street. The business, called I Like That, was displaying an array of shirts with Obama-themed designs in its storefront window Thursday. Logos ranged from a message that said "Babies for Obama" to another that said "Love Your Mama, Vote Obama."

All Portsmouth public schools are closed today due to the campaign stop. Superintendent Ed McDonough told the Portsmouth Herald the police department, in conjunction with the Secret Service, recommended that three schools be dismissed early, but that would have involved separate bus runs. Given the high volume of traffic expected Friday, the district is better served to close all schools and reschedule a full day of school, he said.

Portsmouth police will be involved in security operations, both in the crowd and as part of the president's motorcade, according to Smith. The fire department will be on standby to handle hazardous materials or provide ambulance services, and public works employees will be setting up barricades and signs to direct spectators.

The Rockingham County Sheriff's Department and State Police will also provide assistance.

Lawrence Yerdon, CEO of Strawbery Banke Museum, said the Obama campaign, Secret Service, and staffers from the offices of the president and vice president have taken care of all the planning for Friday's event.

By Thursday afternoon, crews had erected a row of metal bleachers capable of accommodating hundreds on the expansive lawn at the museum. Stage lights were pointed toward a small, elevated stage in front of the Lowd House, a rectangular, yellow structure on the edge of the lawn.

The Federal Period house, constructed during the early 1800s, is expected to serve as the backdrop for the president's speech.

The president and vice president are expected to discuss the choice in this election between "two fundamentally different visions on how to build an economy built to last," according to an announcement from the Obama campaign.

Gates Street resident Pamela Gordon, 61, and her husband, Alan Gordon, 63, are among those planning to attend Friday's event. Pamela Gordon, who visited the grounds of the museum Thursday, said she and her husband are "big Obama fans" who moved from Londonderry to Portsmouth two years ago. They stood in line at the Obama campaign's office in Portsmouth for more than an hour on Wednesday to get tickets, and are planning to line up again bright and early on Friday for the speech.

Gordon said she was advised by a secret service agent to plan on being in place for several hours ahead of Obama's arrival.

"She told us eat a good breakfast before we got here," Gordon said.

Portsmouth resident Maxine Morse also visited Strawbery Banke Thursday to make preparations for Friday's event. A Republican, Morse said she voted for Obama in 2008, and is supporting the president once again this year. Morse said she's concerned about educating the next generation, whether through universities or community colleges, and she feels Obama has made education a priority.

"I feel that Obama has a core value — a sense of who the American people are and what they want to be," she said.

Yalcin Kaya, owner of Kaffee Vonsolln, an eatery on Daniel Street, was ambivalent about the president's trip. He predicted only about half of the spectators who attend the speech will stick around in the city afterward. Kaya said the event will probably eat into his morning business, due to the road closures, but things are likely to pick up in the afternoon.

"They're going to get in line, get searched, listen, and then maybe afterward, maybe half of them will say, 'Well, let's eat something while we're here, too, because it's Portsmouth,'" Kaya said.

Kaya said business has been fast-paced this summer, so the disruption caused by the trip won't make a huge difference either way.

"It doesn't to matter to us, really, in business anyways," he said. "I think I'm going to lose a little, but that's OK. I'll just sit down and rest. After a busy summer, let me tell you, I could use the rest."

Carla Clarke, an employee at the Portsmouth Fabric Company, a local quilting store, said she views the presidential visit as a "zero sum" event for local businesses. Clarke, of Cape Neddick, Maine, said parking is already a challenge downtown, and the event will exacerbate the problem. However, the presidential visit stands to reinvigorate local voters on both sides of the aisle.

"My personal view is that anything that creates excitement around voting — no matter who you are or who you're going to vote for — I think that's a good thing," she said. "I think it jiggles people's brains, and gets them thinking, and gets them asking questions and sharing ideas. Whether it starts out with the parking situation or the schools that are closed down, it's still going to be a plus because people are going to be involved."